WORLD

Meanwhile, Israel is keeping up a campaign of veiled threats to attack Iran alone if it deems nuclear diplomacy a dead end.

Assad has been politically isolated in the region since the start of Syria's war in 2011, triggered by the government's suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations, and was expelled from the Cairo-based Arab League.

The country's developers are still reeling from the effects of Beijing's 2020 crackdown on excessive borrowing and rampant speculation in the property sector, with many facing restructuring following defaults.

The chief of Lithuania's military intelligence said Russia has enough resources to continue the war in Ukraine for two more years at the current intensity.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year saw Ukraine's Black Sea ports blocked by warships until a deal signed in July allowed for the safe passage of exports of critical grain supplies.

Police declined to say how many people had been killed but said the gunman was believed to be among the dead.

The shooting took place at about 8:40 pm (1840 GMT) on Dizengoff Avenue, a popular nightlife spot in the centre of Tel Aviv, where a Palestinian attack killed three people in April 2022.

In an unusual step for a UN agency, the UN Development Program said it signed a contract to purchase a crude carrier from major tanker company Euronav that will head to Yemen to remove the oil from the beleaguered FSO Safer.

Despite those temporary measures, lower crop yields because of warmer-than-usual temperatures last year and this year were likely to keep inflation elevated in the near-term period.

Oil fell for a fourth session on Friday, heading for its biggest weekly loss in five weeks on worries about the prospect of steep interest rate hikes in the United States slowing growth and hitting fuel demand.

NATO has warned Bakhmut could fall to the Russians within days. Russian mercenary group Wagner claims to control the town's eastern side, but Kyiv has ordered Ukrainian troops to bolster defences.

The decision after the March 20, 2003 ground invasion to dismantle Iraq's state, party and military apparatus deepened the chaos that fuelled years of bloodletting, from which the jihadist Islamic State group later emerged.

The Netherlands' government on Wednesday said it plans new restrictions on exports of semiconductor technology to protect national security, joining the U.S.

Boeing declined comment on any commercial discussions. Airbus said it never comments on talks with customers.

Islamabad has been hosting an IMF mission since early February to negotiate the terms of a deal, including the adoption of policy measures to manage its fiscal deficit ahead of the annual budget due around June.

The clashes erupted in the eastern city of Lahore ahead of a Khan's planned rally to kick-start his election campaign, but which the government then banned.

The United States is concerned that escalating tensions in the West Bank could distract Israel and the United States' attention from Iranian activities, a U.S.

The Palestinian ministry announced the "martyrdom" of three men shot by Israeli forces in Jaba, near the flashpoint northern city of Jenin.

Russia unleashed a new wave of air strikes across Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least six people and knocking out power, including to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on two senior Iranian prison officials it accused of being responsible for serious human rights abuses against women and girls.

The Nation Alliance of six opposition parties from widely varied backgrounds named Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), as their candidate this week.

The last quarterly board meeting in November passed a resolution ordering Iran to urgently cooperate with a years-long IAEA investigation into uranium particles found at three undeclared sites.

Under the UN, the IOM collaborates with the refugee agency UNHCR to provide life-saving assistance to migrants in official detention centres.

The U.N. envoy in Afghanistan warned on Wednesday that a Taliban administration crackdown on women's rights is likely to lead to a drop in aid and development funding in the country, where women fear being cut from public life as much as violent death.

Waving signs that read "harming women's rights, not on our shift" and "women's struggle," protesters demonstrated against the legislation, which Netanyahu proposed with his right-wing and religious allies last month.

Since the start of Russia's invasion more than a year ago, many women like Tetyana have volunteered with non-governmental organisations to help wounded soldiers.

Condemnation of Russia by Western governments has essentially severed Europe from Russian supplies, leaving it more reliant on the Middle East and the United States.

Markets have been falling since the start of February as a string of forecast-beating indicators have shattered hopes the US central bank could pause its tightening campaign soon, and even cut borrowing costs by the year's end.

The Taliban administration is proving adept at collecting tax -- and seemingly without the corruption associated with the previous administration.